Published: Saturday, March 2, 2013 at 11:54 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, March 2, 2013 at 11:54 p.m.

The Terriers had their 17-point lead in the second half Saturday night sliced to just two but held on for a 69-62 win against the Bulldogs in the regular-season finale at Benjamin Johnson Arena.

Wofford (12-18, 6-11) is the No. 8 seed of the upcoming Southern Conference tournament in Asheville and will open the event at 11:30 a.m. Friday against No. 9 seed Georgia Southern at the U.S. Cellular Center.

Junior forward Lee Skinner matched a career-high with 21 points to go with 11 rebounds, five assists and no turnovers. The Terriers also got 16 points and six boards from freshman guard Spencer Collins, while sophomore guard Karl Cochran added 17 and four, respectively.

One of the biggest plays by Wofford, however, did not go on the stat sheet. It was made by a guy who had two points and one rebound in 25 minutes.

With less than two minutes remaining, Dylen Setzekorn of The Citadel drove the lane for a layup that would have brought the Bulldogs back within three points. But he plowed into Wofford junior forward Aerris Smith, who slid over with help defense just in time to draw a charging foul.

“(Setzekorn) is a pretty good athlete and he turned the corner on us,” Wofford head coach Mike Young said. “Aerris made a huge play. It's a play that needs to be made. It's a two-point game if the foul shot goes down. Then it's dicey. But a real heads-up play from Aerris. He saved our bacon. Play of the game, in my opinion.”

Setzekorn, meanwhile, was irate and had to be restrained by teammates as he barked at the referee who made the call. It was his feeling, shared by many on the visiting side, that Smith was inside the no-charge arc, which is 3 feet from directly under the center of the basket.

“They were pretty mad,” Smith said. “Sometimes you get calls to go your way and sometimes you don't. That's the game.”

Young said it was such a close call that he wasn't even sure if it was the correct one.

“I don't know the answer to that,” he said. “The arc is down there for a purpose. If you're in it, the officials always point at it. So I just won't know the answer until I see it again.”

Wofford had a 33-20 lead at halftime and that advantage increased to as much as 49-32. But The Citadel (8-20, 5-12) then went on a 10-0 run. The Bulldogs stayed hot and went on another run, this time 12-2, to get as close as 57-55 with 5:18 remaining.

“We didn't expect to be in that situation, but we were,” Young said. “We had to make winning plays and we did. It was maturity from our guys. We've seen that more and more going down the stretch.”

Cochran made a 3-pointer coming out of the emergency timeout and Collins put in an offensive rebound to give Wofford a 62-55 lead. After the charging call against The Citadel, Cochran drove the lane for a floating bank shot to make it 64-57.

“The play by Aerris was huge,” Cochran said. “He saved us right there. He gave us a boost. From there, we pretty much had it.”

The Citadel was led by center Mike Groselle, who had 17 points and seven rebounds. Groselle, the league's fourth-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, was held to a quiet six points and three rebounds after halftime. He was not a major part of the Bulldogs' comeback.

“We cocooned him down there in the post,” Skinner said. “He's a big guy (6-foot-8, 245 pounds) and once he gets that position on you, it's hard to stop him. So we definitely had good team defense down there. We made him earn it.”

<p>With The Citadel charging, Wofford stepped right into the path.</p><p>The Terriers had their 17-point lead in the second half Saturday night sliced to just two but held on for a 69-62 win against the Bulldogs in the regular-season finale at Benjamin Johnson Arena.</p><p>Wofford (12-18, 6-11) is the No. 8 seed of the upcoming Southern Conference tournament in Asheville and will open the event at 11:30 a.m. Friday against No. 9 seed Georgia Southern at the U.S. Cellular Center.</p><p>Junior forward Lee Skinner matched a career-high with 21 points to go with 11 rebounds, five assists and no turnovers. The Terriers also got 16 points and six boards from freshman guard Spencer Collins, while sophomore guard Karl Cochran added 17 and four, respectively.</p><p>One of the biggest plays by Wofford, however, did not go on the stat sheet. It was made by a guy who had two points and one rebound in 25 minutes.</p><p>With less than two minutes remaining, Dylen Setzekorn of The Citadel drove the lane for a layup that would have brought the Bulldogs back within three points. But he plowed into Wofford junior forward Aerris Smith, who slid over with help defense just in time to draw a charging foul.</p><p>“(Setzekorn) is a pretty good athlete and he turned the corner on us,” Wofford head coach Mike Young said. “Aerris made a huge play. It's a play that needs to be made. It's a two-point game if the foul shot goes down. Then it's dicey. But a real heads-up play from Aerris. He saved our bacon. Play of the game, in my opinion.”</p><p>Setzekorn, meanwhile, was irate and had to be restrained by teammates as he barked at the referee who made the call. It was his feeling, shared by many on the visiting side, that Smith was inside the no-charge arc, which is 3 feet from directly under the center of the basket.</p><p>“They were pretty mad,” Smith said. “Sometimes you get calls to go your way and sometimes you don't. That's the game.”</p><p>Young said it was such a close call that he wasn't even sure if it was the correct one.</p><p>“I don't know the answer to that,” he said. “The arc is down there for a purpose. If you're in it, the officials always point at it. So I just won't know the answer until I see it again.”</p><p>Wofford had a 33-20 lead at halftime and that advantage increased to as much as 49-32. But The Citadel (8-20, 5-12) then went on a 10-0 run. The Bulldogs stayed hot and went on another run, this time 12-2, to get as close as 57-55 with 5:18 remaining.</p><p>“We didn't expect to be in that situation, but we were,” Young said. “We had to make winning plays and we did. It was maturity from our guys. We've seen that more and more going down the stretch.”</p><p>Cochran made a 3-pointer coming out of the emergency timeout and Collins put in an offensive rebound to give Wofford a 62-55 lead. After the charging call against The Citadel, Cochran drove the lane for a floating bank shot to make it 64-57.</p><p>“The play by Aerris was huge,” Cochran said. “He saved us right there. He gave us a boost. From there, we pretty much had it.”</p><p>The Citadel was led by center Mike Groselle, who had 17 points and seven rebounds. Groselle, the league's fourth-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, was held to a quiet six points and three rebounds after halftime. He was not a major part of the Bulldogs' comeback.</p><p>“We cocooned him down there in the post,” Skinner said. “He's a big guy (6-foot-8, 245 pounds) and once he gets that position on you, it's hard to stop him. So we definitely had good team defense down there. We made him earn it.”</p>